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Full-Service Home Improvement  ·  Massachusetts

Free on-site estimate or call (561) 299-1261

Stone, set to last.

Masonry flagship  ·  whole-home trades  ·  snow plowing

What we're building

Newest first
Levelling a cap stone on a block retaining wall under construction
Currently building August 2026
Cape Cod  ·  Retaining wall & steps

Block wall carrying the grade back off the house, granite treads set into the run. Photographed this week.

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Finished flagstone walk edged in granite cobble, running to granite steps
August 2026
The Sowinski Walk

Sunken cobble steps and a path lost in the hostas — rebuilt as a mortar-set flagstone walk with granite steps and a cobble edge.

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Finished paver driveway in Marlborough, MA
August 2026
The Costa Driveway  ·  Marlborough, MA

Rutted gravel to a full paver driveway — with every layer of the base on show.

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Every job we've finished →

How it works

01 A clipboard and pen
Free on-site estimate
We walk the job with you and give you a real number in writing. No charge for the visit, no obligation after it.
02 A pair of worn work gloves
Agree the scope
A written scope and price before anyone touches the ground. No changes without you signing off first.
03 A trowel set in fresh mortar
Our own crew builds it
Built with our own crews, start to finish. The people who quoted the job are the people setting the stone.
A plowed edge cut clean against wet pavement before dawn

Winter  ·  Now booking seasonal contracts

The lot is clear before anyone arrives

Plowing, walkways shovelled, and salt down. Residential driveways and multi-family properties across MetroWest and Greater Boston, on seasonal contract or per storm.

Get a winter number →
Fieldstone seat wall and paver patio

Division 01

Hardscape

The ground beneath the house

Pool decks, driveways, outdoor kitchens, patios. Every stone quarried, selected, and set by hand.

Enter the gallery →
Águas Vivas

Division 03  ·  New Collection

Águas Vivas

Arriving  ·  August MMXXVI

Hand-carved crystal from the mountains of Minas Gerais. Eleven works. One collection. Available by private inquiry.

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Sculpture

Division 02

Sculpture

Form born from the stone itself

Crystal birds, amethyst pedestals, driftwood sanctuaries. Each work is a singular commission, owned by one family, built for generations.

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Águas Vivas  ·  Opening Soon
Private inquiry opens at launch

Field notes

Section diagram of a masonry footing extending below the frost line I
Below the frost line
New England ground moves in winter. A footing poured above the frost line lifts, and the wall on top of it cracks. Ours go below it — every time, no exception for budget.
Section diagram of stacked stone courses bearing load through mortar joints II
Cure before load
Mortar hits handling strength in days but keeps gaining for weeks after. We don't load a wall or open a walkway early just to hit a schedule.
Comparison diagram of a concave tooled mortar joint beside a flush joint III
Tooled, not troweled flat
A concave joint sheds water off the face of the stone. A flush one holds it there. It costs seconds with a jointer, and it's why the wall stays dry.
Section diagram of a retaining wall with crushed stone backfill and a drain pipe at its base IV
Give the water somewhere to go
A retaining wall holds back soil, not water. Crushed stone behind the face and a drain pipe at the base give the water an exit — without one, it builds up and pushes the wall out.
Section diagram of a paver patio's compacted base and bedding layers beneath the pavers V
The base does the work
A patio moves if what's under it does. Compacted subgrade, a compacted gravel base, then a thin bedding layer — the pavers on top are the easy part.
Section diagram of stone steps each pitched slightly forward to shed water VI
Every tread has a pitch
A dead-flat step holds water, and in a New England winter that means ice. Every tread we set carries a slight forward pitch so water runs off instead of sitting.

What we build in

Close detail of a weathered fieldstone face
Fieldstone
Walls, garden edging, retaining
Close detail of natural stone veneer fitted tight with thin mortar joints
Stone Veneer
Facades, chimneys, fireplace surrounds
Close detail of the split edge of bluestone
Bluestone
Patios, treads, walkways
Close detail of thermal-finished granite
Granite
Steps, posts, cobblestone
Close detail of a tooled mortar joint between two stones
Mortar
The joint that keeps the water out

Before it's finished

A string line marking grade over a compacted gravel base
Base & Grade
Rebar tied inside a form as concrete is poured
Footing & Pour
A lit stone fireplace hearth
Fireplaces
A dry-stacked retaining wall's stepped batter face
Retaining Walls

The rest of the home

Close detail of a granite kitchen countertop edge
Kitchens & Baths
Close detail of overlapping asphalt roof shingles
Roofing & Siding
Close detail of a window frame against cedar shingle siding
Windows & Doors
Close detail of deck board grain with a structural screw
Decks & Outdoor Living
Close detail of a paintbrush stroke on dark exterior trim
Painting & Finishes
New stud framing against an existing exterior wall at dusk
Additions & Remodeling
A work truck loaded with stone and tools at the end of the day

Our own crews

The people who quote the job are the people who show up and build it — registered, insured, and built by our own crews.

From the studio

Founder
DMV
Filed
June MMXXVI
Subject
What comes next

The studio has been quiet for two years. Not because nothing was happening — because everything was. Águas Vivas is not a new product. It is the result of forty years of devotion, carried across an ocean, shaped again by hands that have never rushed anything.

The water does not hurry. Neither did we.

— David Machado Vaz  ·  Founder, Phaöra

Where we work

Massachusetts  ·  Home base
MetroWestPrimary
Greater BostonPrimary
Medfield  ·  MiltonServing
Walpole  ·  ChathamServing
Falmouth & surroundingServing
Cape Cod  ·  Seasonal
Dennis  ·  Route 6AServing
Bourne  ·  FalmouthServing

We take Cape work through the season and plow MetroWest through the winter.

Partners  ·  Now Accepting
MassachusettsOpen
New EnglandOpen
Become a partner →

Every project begins with a single conversation

A real scope, and a real number

Free on-site estimate — masonry, home improvement, or snow plowing — from the people who'll actually do the work. No intermediary, no obligation. David responds personally.

Request a free estimate → View the work →